Once again at the Jibilika Dance Festival, a Bulawayo-based dance crew, Magesh, walked away with the $1000 grand prize. The defending winners of the title, Explosion, came second followed by Ebony Arts of Gwanda.
One hundred and ten dancers from around Zimbabwe camped in the city of kings to battle for the 2015 title on August 22, 2015.
On the eve of the grand finale the event started on a light note with only 22 participants attending the two dance workshops followed by a dance Cypher in the city street.
On the day for the grand opening, six local dancers joined the chief judge, Haleem Stringz Rasul, in a dance that he especially choreographed for the event.
The judges survived a six hour long ajudication period. They defined this year’s event as the toughest battle ever because of the creativity and talent that was displayed by the competitors.
They came up with two winners from the Krumps and B-Boy Nu School categories and three winners for the Best Crew respectively.
PIC: T. NDABAMBI | ZIMBOJAM.COM | Magesh walked away with the grand prize.
The dancers showed their creativity by mixing different genres from mbira, apostolic, hip hop, dancehall and contemporary, to name a few.
USA based Haleem was impressed by the creativity and the dance moves which matched up with the ones that he’s seen portrayed internationally.
According to Kelvin, a dance member from Mutare, they did a lot of research and scoured the internet for the latest international dance trends.
The participants showed that there is no limitation to what an individual can dance to; they created utter entertainment from simple elements.
To zest it up the dance crews appeared wearing colourful uniforms and religious outfits to complement the music they used.
Organiser Plot Mhako engaged a Bulawayo based artist to create a bright graffiti wall for the stage background.
Compared to their last events, Jibilika trust went a step up the ladder in their prize offer which greatly improved the event.
“We are happy that this time they decided to host the dance festival here in our city, since most big events are held in Harare,” commented Topsy a dance fan, “now our city will be recognised internationally and it was a learning point for us on how to organise a show like this.”
There was entertainment from the popular Hip hop artists Teeko with Ozzbit and AWA. All the participants were served with Jibilika certificates of participation.
The runners up did not regret their losses in the competition but were happy that they went home equipped with dance skills and knowledge from the workshops.
The first prize winners where Magesh for best dance crew, McDonald Jonasi was the best in Krumps, Sylvestor Shonhiwa in B-Boy and TK Krumpkid in Nu School.
